


i found you in a sea of stars

by harlock



Category: Captain Harlock
Genre: Alternate Universe - Temeraire Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Dragons, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Space Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-05-24 06:43:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14949587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harlock/pseuds/harlock
Summary: To atone for the mistakes of his past, Yama and his dragon Rinne board the infamous space pirate ship theArcadia, all for the purpose of one mission: kill the Gaia Sanction's most wanted criminal, Captain Harlock.But over time, they learn there's more to the phantom ship and her reclusive Captain than first believed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Working on a bit of a clean-up for this story, so there's been some edits and changes.

White, opalescent scales shimmered in the harsh sunlight as his dear Rinne circled the mountain in lazy arcs. She flew in on the next pass and dug sharp claws into the rock a few feet away from him, her great wings folding in against her back as she climbed up ahead of him, then looked down expectantly. Her bright, milky blue eyes are flecked with silver and catch the light beautifully, resplendent with her amusement as he tried to climb up as quick and carefully as possible.

Yama can hear her deep, rumbling laughter as he heaved himself towards the plateau; "Quiet, Rinne." He hissed, on the way up as he caught up with one of the other men, "You're being unhelpful."

Rinne blinked, and cocked her head so the obsidian black of her great horns glinted in the sun, "You chose this route, Yama. I am merely here to make sure you don't die."

Yama glared at her, then returned his attention to finding another hand-hold before he slid off the rock-face, "How— _kind_ —of you— Rinne—"

Her gravely, rough laughter echoed a bit oddly but she remained true to her word, only hovering around him to make sure he never slipped or fell, and once he was close enough to the top, she landed on the edge to pull him up with gentle talons. The two weren't alone, there were others and their dragons, each of varying sizes, and while Rinne wasn't the only one of larger size, she was certainly the center of attention for her abnormal coloring.

After all, he was not her first choice, but in the end she had chosen him nonetheless.

The dark hull of the _Arcadia_ loomed overheard and Yama couldn't stop the awed noise that left his throat when the deck lowered and reveal a group clad in heavy armored suits. Their dragons were made to wait in the air below the ship, circling to catch their partners as one by one, they fell to the river below until Yama was the only one left. He could feel Rinne's agitation, could hear it in the sharp snap of her wings below the deck, but his attention was caught by the man above, watching them with calm indifference.

Yama felt the plank drop as he yelled his answer—an ideal he didn't quite believe in just yet.

 _"Freedom!"_ He screams to the open air just seconds before a metal hand grabs his wrist to stop his fall.

_"Your name?"_

His voice nearly fails him, but he managed to gasp out _"Yama"_ before he was yanked up and thrown onto the deck.

 _"Never forget the meaning of that word,"_ The helmet retreated to reveal a blonde woman, and on her shoulder, a small, green dragon whose long wings flared out briefly before it tangled fore-claws in her hair to hold on as she moved. The little dragon kept beady emerald eyes on Rinne as she came up behind Yama and curled a wing around his body possessively; the blonde hardly blinked at the display as she continued.

"It's our one true flag."

-


	2. Chapter 2

Rinne spent the majority of her time trying to cram herself into Yama's cabin instead of staying in one of the dragon decks—to keep from interacting very little with the crew's dragons for the time being. She wasn't used to so many in one place, having spent much of her long life in the seclusion of green houses and breeding nurseries run by Yama's mother.

Yama stayed with her when she deigned to go, watching from a safe spot as she allowed the other dragons close enough to meet her and speak with her; and in between searching the ship for clues to the dimensional bombs and being "educated" by Kei and the rest of _Arcadia's_ rag-tag group of pirates, it was a nice reprieve from the crew.

"I haven't seen the Captain's dragon yet." Rinne informed him late one night, when Yama had brought her some meats and ate his own dinner with her on one of the less-occupied dragon decks, "But there's a scent here that is strange. It's wrong. It smells like a dragon and yet…" Her nostrils flared and her pale eyes narrowed, "I think its sick, wherever it is."

Yama frowned, poking at the stew in his bowl thoughtfully before robotically taking a bite, "Sick, huh. Maybe it's the Dark Matter masking it?"

Yama felt the shift of her muscles beneath the thick scales behind him as Rinne gave the closest approximation of a shrug that a dragon could make, "Perhaps. Or—" She lowered her head and nuzzled into his hair, "we could go exploring."

Making a face as he tried not to spill his bowl, Yama shook his head, "I don't know if that's a good idea yet. I haven't found any clues, and none of the others trust me enough to tell me anything important."

Rinne snorted and his hair blew across his face, catching him off-guard, "I've heard the dragons talking. The next stop is Tokarga, another 'node' they said, another anchor point for the bombs." Her head tilted a little to the side as she thought it over, "Tokarga is a failed colony because the atmosphere was harmful to dragons, why would they want to put one there?"

Yama shrugged, leaning back and propping himself against her side, "Another question for us to find the answer to."

Rinne folded a wing over him to hide his curled-up form as two other men showed up to retrieve their dragons. Yama sighed quietly, and finished his enough of his food to set it aside and let her clean up the leftovers. If what she said was true—that another dragon was present and tainted by the Dark Matter—then Yama had more than one reason to take out the infamous space pirate.

"Rinne, let's go." Yama whispered, stroking his fingertips against her wing, signaling for her to move it so he could stand.

Rinne stretched out with a low purr, her black talons raking the floor and scraping up pieces of metal in the process. Yama made a face at her, ready to scold her, when the ship itself made an odd noise and black wisps of smoke rose from the floors and the walls seemed to ripple and distort with the same smokey effect. Both of them watched, mystified, as the markings from Rinner's claws faded away.

"Well." Rinne peered down at the floor as the black smoke disappeared, "That's interesting."

Yama nearly ground his teeth together to hold back his surprised yelp and he tugged on a wingtip, "Let's go. Now. There's someone I want to find."

She perked up at that, "Who?"

"Yattaran," He replied, leading the way to the decks above, "He said he'd give us a tour."

Rinne's long, serpentine body flowed through the corridors as they walked, her pearlescent white scales a striking contrast against the dark halls of the _Arcadia_. Her weight against his leg was a comforting one when she brushed passed him, only to twist around and give him an odd, toothy grin as she nearly clawed up a wall to avoid another crewman they passed, with Yama smiling apologetically for her actions. She was large in terms of her length, lithe and slender, more agile and faster than most as she'd come from a stranger breed of alien dragons whose home world had been destroyed centuries ago.

Yama remembered his mother talking about it when he was a child, how Nibelung dragons were a dying breed and that she was making an effort to save them; all because the alien race they shared their world with had died out long before them. It was his mother's passion for the survival of dragons that made him want to follow in her footsteps as a child, but after the accident—

"Yama." Rinne's graveled voice cut through his thoughts as they came upon the bridge, "That's—"

Her blue eyes widened as she stared through the dimmed lighting and Yama followed her gaze to the figures on the second level. Both of them stared in silence as it sank in; the Captain stood before the console with a tall, slender woman of alien origin, one Yama hadn't seen before in his wanderings around the ship. They were conversing so quietly, Yama couldn't catch what they were saying, but there was a closeness between them, familiarity beyond a human's understanding that piqued his interest.

Before they could leave unnoticed, the Captain and the woman seemed to conclude their conversation enough to leave the bridge together, and just as Yama turned to take Rinne away, Yattaran called out to him in greeting. Though his curiosity tugged at his thoughts, he forced himself to listen as the _Arcadia's_ first mate showed them around the bridge and explained the Dark Matter engine. It was pertinent information for his mission after all, and even if his brother cared little for his survival, he would not fail.

However, the woman returned as Yattaran was explaining the origins of the engine, and beside him, he felt Rinne tense and her lengthy tail wrapped around one of his legs, preventing him from moving even as his gaze met _hers_ — _Miimei—_ Rinne's hoarse whisper seemed to echo through his mind as the Nibelung female strolled across the bridge and disappears down the step.

Yama hardly paid any attention to the last of Yattaran's tour, he was so attuned to Rinne's distress, he was quick to usher her towards his assigned cabin. It was cramped with her claiming the floor and trying to hide her head amongst the coils of her body and her many folded wings.

"Rinne, what's wrong?" Yama knelt beside her and gently stroked a hand along one coil, "Please, don't shut me out."

Rinne lifted a wing to reveal her face, twisted in such a strong expression of anger and grief, it surprised him; "That female. I know her. I remember her."

Yama frowned, moving to sit more comfortably as Rinne uncoiled enough to rest her head on his lap, "Who is she?"

The dragon tried to bury her head under his jacket and gave an eerie whine, "She is... the one who hatched me."

-


	3. Chapter 3

Before Yama, there was _Eiri_. Before Eiri, there was _Miimei_.

Rinne was not an dragon of earth, she was not of Mars or the moons of Jupiter, or any other breed from the Gaia Sanction's current roster. She was a Nibelung dragon. When she was hatched, she was black as a void, and could be lost in shadow if her caretaker was not careful— until all one could see was the milky-blue of her eyes.

There were hints in the roots of her scales around her lips and eyes, and the edge of hardened flesh and scales around her talons; evidence of her future coloring that would develop as she grew older, larger, and shed more of her black scales if she survived this year.

Her caretaker was a slender female, eyes that, in time, Rinne learned were a color called green, with long hair like spun silver and tinted that same shade of strange green. She was taller than the other beings Rinne had met, long and willowy limbs and cool to the touch. And yet, there was something kind about her in those first years, a desperation affection in her caretaker's habits that endeared her to Rinne.

Miimei was the closest to a "mother" that Rinne had ever known until that point.

But then, the _Homecoming War_ began, and what little peace Rinne had known was shattered. She chose not to remember those ruinous years, or the year Earth was swallowed by the Dark Matter, or when Miimei left her in the care of a _human_. She chose not to share _those_ memories either.

After Miimei, there was decades confusion and loneliness, and too much spent in havens and sanctuaries that didn't know how to deal with her.

Finally, there was _Eiri_.

Eiri, whose sweet, honey-brown eyes lit up with excitement and awe, and something close to _love_. Eiri, who took her from the havens and brought her to a new sanctuary, one created with Rinne's kind as the focus. Meeting other lost Nibelung dragons, they whose 'mothers' had left them behind to protect them and to give them a chance at survival, just as her own had done— for the first time in decades, Rinne had found a place where she belonged.

She also decided, above all, that Eiri was _hers_.

Eiri was mother to the dragons in her sanctuary and two little humans. Two boys, one tall and stern, and growing in his father's footsteps, and the other short, and quiet, and eyes like his mother's. Eiri liked him, the younger one, because his eyes held the same curiosity and wonder that Eiri's did. The older one bothered her with his arrogance, tempered only by the girl who trailed behind them; a girl with soft green eyes and sweet smiles reserved only for them.

Rinne cherished those years, appreciated Eiri's efforts to save her breed, and remembered fondly the many nights spent with the youngest boy napping in her coils.

(She doesn't tell Yama how selfish she was back then. How she stole his love from another dragon and hoarded him for herself. How she rejected his brother because Yama reminded her so much of his mother, her Eiri, and how she wanted to keep him close until the day he passed.

Even though her first chosen died before she was ready, Rinne would not let her second chosen die unless it was on her terms.)

-


End file.
